Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №15/2003
 
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Contest of Acting Abilities

При обучении иностранным языкам целесообразно использовать приемы драматизации. Именно “драматизация” – элементы театрального действия являются одним из эффективных средств усвоения иностранного языка. При этом в обучение вносятся элементы естественности и непредсказуемости, которые сопровождают обычно реальные ситуации общения.
В данном конкурсе могут участвовать все желающие. Конкурс состоит из 5 туров. По мере прохождения каждого тура отсеивается определенное количество участников. К последнему туру остаются 2 финалиста.

Round 1

Each person should say a phrase “To be or not to be” in a particular way:

– in an interrogative tone
– in an exclamatory tone
– as a child who has just learned to speak
– in a large hall without a microphone
– with a hot potato in your mouth
– with a heavy rucksack on your back
– as if you had been running a long distance
– as if it were very hot
– as if it were extremely cold
– as if you were bored
– as if you were frightened
– as if you had just had substantial meal
– as if you had just climbed a long flight of stairs

Round 2

Imagine and express your condition and reaction:

– you are a young child who has lost his parents in a railway station
– you are a passenger with heavy luggage who can’t find his carriage
– you are a passenger who has been waiting for your train for two days
– you are trying to catch someone who has stolen your bag
– you are trying to catch your train that is pulling out of the station
– you are walking along the corridor of a train
– you are trying to eat in a crowded train
– you are looking out of a train window
– you are trying to open the train window that doesn’t want to open
– you are trying to break your way to the carriage through the crowd
– you are meeting your girl-friend (boy-friend) with a bouquet of flowers, etc.

Round 3

You are in a hurry. You are about to leave your flat, but at the last moment you hear the telephone ring. You pick up the receiver and hear the following phrases.
Respond:
– Is this the Zoo?
– Mom, when will you take me from here?
– Hurry up! We’ve been waiting for you for 3 hours!
– Did you order the taxi?
– When is the next train to Moscow?
– Do you know any bird with four letters in its name?
– Could you lend me $50?
– What time did you come last night?
– My car has broken down, help me!
– Who won the match this afternoon?
– Who was that girl I saw you with last night?

Round 4

В этом туре студентам предлагают побывать в роли “переводчика” – прослушать фразы и передать ее смысл другими словами: e.g. There is a lamp on the table. On the construction of four legs there is a lighting appliance. Предлагаемые фразы:

– My cousin spent his weekend in London.
– This fashionable hat is very expensive.
– The rivers freeze over in winter.
– It looks like rain.

Round 5

The students who are in the final are presented with the following task. They should walk and imitate simultaneously the actions being described in the story while the compere tells it to them. They try to match their bodily movements to the various incidents. Don’t give any instructions for movements; they should be free to feel the story.

“You are walking. Walking through a tropical jungle. It is afternoon, late afternoon. It is hot. Stuffy. You are sweating. The path is growing narrower and narrower. Suddenly you stop and listen. Then you move on. You are frightened. A storm is gathering. You hear thunder overhead. You try to hurry. The path becomes rougher: finally you lose it. Then you take out your knife and start hacking your way through the jungle. It begins to rain. A great tropical downpour. Your arm is tired from hacking and you sink to the ground.”

By Sofia Sharifzyanova, Saria Nizametdinova,
Arsk, Tatarstan